Method of type character reproduction



Jag. 31, 1967 AF. SIMONCINI A INVENTOR. H06 FRANCESCO SIMONCM BY W A TTOR NIY United States Patent Ofiice 3,301,125 METHOD OF TYPE CHARACTER REPRODUCTION Francesco Simoncini, Bologna, Italy, assignor to Olficine Simoncini S.p.A.

Filed Apr. 15, 1964, Ser. No. 359,915

Claims priority, application Italy, May 28, 1963,

10,996/63, Patent 697,259

1 Claim. (Cl. 88-24) This invention relates to a method of reproduction of type characters, and more particularly, relates to a method of reproducing a graphic Character or profile identical to that of the original design by deforming to a predetermned degree the original design.

The method of the present invention for producing type characters by building up the profile of conventional letters or indicia comprises the step of reshaping only a part of the standard type Character, particularly by changing the Straight edges adjacent the corners of the letter into ntersecting concave edges.

Heretofore, photomechanical processes have been described for the reshaping of part of a ph-otoengraved image to create a new image thereby, as for example in Ormay, U.S. Patent NO. 1,179,749. Ormay discloses Shading and fillng panels of a photoengraved negative outline reproduction of a geometric figure in order to create a new three-dimensional appearance when the photoengraving is used as a printing plate.

The present invention distinguished from the conception in Ormay firstly, because the appearance of the type Character is not changed, secondly because no Shading is added which would alter the appearance, and thirdly because only those erodable portions adjacent the intersections at the corners of the type characters are reformed to concave edges.

It is well-known that with conventional processes of photocomposition, especially in the composition of small book face, e.g., from 4 to 20 points, obvious deformations from the original 'Character are found to occur especially in certain typ-es of profiles, usually at sharp angles. These deformations may be caused either by the contact or projecton phases of the photographic process itself, or by the subsequent development of the eXposed film. The contours of the 'previously prepared graphic design are not faithfully reproduced, and its profile erodes at critical portions with deleterious effect -on the aesthetic, artistic and functional quality of the Character.

The Character is further Complicated by the fact that not all portions of a design profile undergo the same degree of erosion during photographic reproduction.

These difliculties are overcome by the novel process of the present invention in which prior to photographic reproduction, the design profile is predeformed in a direction opposite to deformation which would be caused by erosion. Erodable portions of the profile are thus reshaped either by local non-linear enlargement or reduction. This process may be termed "reverse deformation. In the process of photographic composition, these predetermined reverse deform ations are constituted of deformed directrices imposed on the exact profile of the original design in a manner opposite to erosion effects.

Accordingly, it is among the objects of the present invention to provide a novel process for reproducing exact duplicates of an original design.

Another object of this invention is to provide, -in a photocomposition procedure, a novel process for reproducing eXact reduced duplicates of an original Character or figure design.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like parts and in which FIG. 1 is a partial veiw On a blown up Scale of an Patented Jan. 31, 1967 original design of a Character to be photographed and reduced;

FIG. 2 shows a view of a conventional photograph of the FIG. l design;

FIGS. 3 and 4 Show respective views of deformations made to characters to be duplicated in a predetermined manner according to this invention;

FIG. 5 shows a view of an original graphic profile to be Copied;

FIG. 6 shows the same profile as FIG. 5 but reversely deformed according to the present invention; and

FIG. 7 shows a View of the results of photographic reproduction of the reversely deformed Character of FIG. 6.

Referring to the drawings, there is depicted in FIG. 1 a view of a portion of a Character 11 having corners 13 which, if photographically reproduced to the Size of type in a conventional manner, will result in a degraded Character 15 having a profile as shown in FIG. 2. It is seen that the Character 15 has rounded corners 17, and that the Character 15 is thus an eroded copy of the original Character 11.

The respective characters shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 show how, according to the present invention, this erosion or degradation is compensated by Selective reverse deformation. In FIG. 3 an original Character portion 19 has a profile Similar to that of FIG. 2 terminating in original squared-Otf ends 21, indicated by the dashed lines. The original ends 21 are built up in a reverse deforming manner SO that each corner of the ends 21 is fiared out or is extended by concave curved lines 23 in transverse and longitudinal directions to more acutely angled points 25 located distinctly beyond the geometrical confines of the original end 21. The points 25 are connected by a concave curved line 27 having its innermost portion distinctly outside the geometrical confines of the original end 21.

An inverted V Character portion 29 shown in FIG. 4 has an original interior acute angle corner 31 and an original eXterior acute angle corner 33. The original corners 31 and 33 are indicated in dashed lines. If reproduced in a conventional manner, the corners 31 and 33 will become rounded as indicated by the respective curved lines 35 and 37. This roundness obviously degrades the sharpness and clarity of the Character 29.

The interior acute corner 31 is reversely deformed, so that it will reproduce to its original shape, by means of Slghtly concave cuts 39 and 41 converging to a point 43 located inwardly of the original corner 31. That portion of the original Character between the dashed lines forming corner 31 and the cuts 39 and 41 is thus removed.

The eXterior acute angle corner 33 is reversely deformed by building up its profile between concave lines 45 and 47 extending Outwardly of the Corner 33 and converging to a point 49.

In FIG. 5 an original Character 51 is to be photographically reproduced and reduced exactly. The character 51 has protruding corners at 53, 55, 57, 59, 61, 63 and 65 which, if the Original Character 51 were photographically reproduced and reduced without reverse deformation, it would be eroded or rounded off thus resulting in a degraded reproduction thereof.

As shown in FIG. 6, the Character 51 is built up at each of its corners 53-65 with respective shaded portions 53a 65a of greater Curvature and acuteness to form a reshaped Character 51a. Photographic reproduction of the Character shown in FIG. 6, built up with the reversely deformed shaded areas 53a-67a, results in the eXact duplicate 51b shown in FIG. 7 of the original Character.

As an illustrative, but not limited, example of canrying out the present invention with its novel concept of reverse deformation in a photographic process wherein a design is to be reproduced on a negative With a reduction of 80 times, a copy is first made by contact of the original design on Gevaert Develop autopositive paper exposed to light for 30 seconds.

Corrections in the form of a reverse deformations are then made by hand or by any other suitable means on the Copy thus obtained. The nature and amount of the re- Verse deformations m-ay be in some cases dictated by eX- perience and 'by the amount of reduction.

The corrected design is then photographed With any suitable equipment so that the image is reduced in height 80 times. Exposure may be made for seconds With an f/22 aperture, The negative thus obtained may be Kodak Super Mince obtained With an Esta-r support.

The reduced negative is developed in a Kodalith developing bath, agitating for 30 seconds, and then by letting it rest for about 2.5 minutes. The reduced negative is then removed from the Washing bath and is introduced to a Kodak fiXing bath, then removed and dried.

A copy of the reduced negative is made by contact of the negative on a bromograph (contact printer) With a point light source. The negative is placed on the glass of the bromograph, With the sensitive Surface of Ferrani Vega 208 D paper turned toward the negative film and exposed for 10 seconds.

A positive photograph is developed by placing said 2 08 D paper in a Gevaert Metinol development bath for about 2.5 minutes, and then fixed in a Kodak bath and dried.

The Gevaert Develop autopositive paper and the Ferrani Vega 208 D paper are eXamples of silver chloride and Silver chloride-Silver bromide mixed print papers and may be used for the desired high Contrast of the print. There are available on the market, in Europe, Japan and the U.S.A., many types of Silver chloride and Silver bromide print papers for high contrast hotography.

The photograph thus reproduced results in a design copy faithful in every detail to the original design. Erosion (degradation) affects only those design areas reversely deformed according to the invention.

The abovedescribed example of photographic reduction if applied to the 'Character shown in FIG. 6 serves to produce the Character shown in FIG. 7.

It Will be obvious to those skilled in the -art that the aboVe-described principles and structures may be applied to any design profile and to any reproduction procedure in Which erosion causes degraded c-opies of an original design. Accordingly, the Scope of this invention is not limited to the specific forms and structures illustratively shown herein, but only by the appended Claim.

What is claimed is as olloWs:

In the method of preparing a type Character in relief and in negative profile, the improvement in reducing erosion Which occurs at the sharp corners of the type character appearing on the negative used for printing Consisting essentially of predeforming, by hand, only the intersecting edges at the sharp corners of the type Character -from Straight and concave edges to Concave edges, the last mentioned adjacent concave edges after being predeformed intersecting at a point which lies outside of and beyond the 'original point of intersection.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 632,435 9/1899 Bentley -85 NORTON ANSI-IER, Prz'maly Examner.

JOHN M. HORAN, Examiner. RICHARD A. WINTERCORN, Assistant Examiner. 

